Ship Waves of Development
Introduction Ship Waves are milestones within the Animal Kingdom Collective Development Strategy that define a major improvement or achievement in aviation. They are usually separated by unique parts, or stability improvements or their overall look and feel. Wave 1 Wave 1 ships are the first, and oldest, models that were created. They are usually defined by their lack of prowess in design, but ability to get the job done. Typical Wave 1 models sacrificed stability, control and weight allowance for cheap to construct models that were purely designed to get from A to B in the early days of Zenith Prime's colonisation. Most notably, the highly durable and successful Badger Robotics (though keen eyes would notice that the ship itself predates the company) ship The Phoenix is the only Wave 1 ship still in active service, as all other Wave 1 models were either reclaimed or were crashed due to lack of flight planning design. Wave 1 ships can function, though have been surpassed in later months by the second Wave of ship. Wave 2 As development continued, and Wave 1 vessels were becoming increasingly rare they were replaced by what became the second Wave. These vessels took the knowledge gained from their predecessors and used it to continue ideas that were theorised to be possible during Wave 1. While Wave 2 ships still suffered from some of the instabilities of the first Wave, such as inability to fly with heavier loads, one of the key differences between Wave 1 and 2 ships is the ability for them to charge via a connector, an ability that all Wave 1 vessels initially lacked until they were retrofitted after this monumental discovery. This allowed ships to be used on multiple journeys without fail, removing the power loss risk. Another key element of Wave 2 is the refinement of design. Wave 1 suffered from exposed batteries and cobbled areas in patchwork repairs, but Wave 2 - being created with more resources available - were built with looks in mind. Finally, Wave 2 ships were the first to implement the now recognised colours of the three main distributors; Moo Moo Mechanics, Fox Corp. and Badger Robotics, although in honour of their heritage, all surviving Wave 1 ships were kept in their original colours, but have since been fitting with repairs in the colours of the manufacturer that owns them. Notable examples of Wave 2 include the early Sausage line, with the first two models, the Mk. 1 and the Mk. 2 belonging to this particular Wave. Wave 3 After the final line of Wave 2 ships had been developed, the long-awaited dream of the Animal Kingdom to reach space and beyond was finally coming to fruition. With enough resources, and powerful enough mining and transport vessels to accomplish the task, Wave 3 was commenced. As this was a new venture, Wave 3 ships suffered from their own problems. Whilst atmospheric movement had been refined and was now standard, space travel, and the act of reaching it had never been attempted. Bulky and unrefined, hydrogen tanks were fitted with the bare minimum requirements to breach the atmosphere and travel around. Many Wave 3 ships, such as The Interceptor, never reached space, and ships such as Spacebuster and The Beetle reached it with considerable difficulty due to a lack of knowledge on the conservation of Ice as fuel. Wave 3 would also see the emergence of automatic drone ships built most notably by Badger Robotics. These included the Badger Robotics 001: Blue Midget Automatic Miner and the shortly lived Badger Robotics 002: Gustav Cargo Container. The idea of automatic drones was then fitted to certain ships in future Waves. Wave 3 would continue the trend of donning company colours, and was again determined to refine design ideas.